Manchester City went top of the Premier League after defeating derby rivals Manchester United in an intense clash at the Etihad Stadium.

Manchester City went top of the Premier League after defeating derby rivals Manchester United in an intense clash at the Etihad Stadium.

Skipper Vincent Kompany scored a thumping header in first-half injury time to put the Blues ahead on goal difference in the title race with two games remaining.

Tensions threatened to spill over after the break with managers Roberto Mancini and Sir Alex Ferguson exchanging angry words on the touchline. But City held on for a famous victory.

Gripping

Heroes, from one to eleven. On an extraordinary, pulsating, gripping night, City wrenched the Premier League title back out of the hands of their old enemies.

It called for spirit, it called for guts, and it called for discipline and sheer bloody hard work – and the delirious City fans got it all in spades.

Some purists might turn up their noses and wonder what the millions worldwide might have made of the lack of beauty in the game.

But it was City who played any football there was to be had in a frenetic, tense, bubbling derby which at one point had the two managers ready for a tear-up in the technical area.

This was a peculiarly Mancunian affair, redolent of many high-tempo, full-blooded clashes of the past 131 years.

The upshot of this performance was that the Blues can now win their first league title for 44 years if they win at Newcastle next Sunday and then dispose of Queen’s Park Rangers the week after.

This was a team dismissed as a team of individuals by one of the United coaching staff. They wish.

Teams of individuals do not work and cover, and fight and run like this.

And while City were superior in the quality of their play, they also wanted this so much more.

Gareth Barry was immense, Joleon Lescott a titan, Gael Clichy ran his blood to water, Pablo Zabaleta fierce and committed – and the goal was headed in by inspirational skipper Kompany.

The sight of Yaya Toure sprinting at top speed to keep in a ball which was rolling out of play 40 yards away, with a few minutes to go, was simply breathtaking in its lung-bursting passion and pride.

Tension

The tension had been palpable in the walk up to the ground, but once inside the City fans almost took on a “what-the-hell” kind of attitude.

They cranked up the volume, Poznan’ed their way through the announcement of the United team and almost turned it into a celebration of a fine season, come what may.

It took the players a little while longer to feel so settled, but once they realised that there is not a great deal to fear from this United side, they imposed themselves on proceedings.

Rarely do you see Ferguson put out a team with such timid intentions. He has always prided himself on upholding United’s attacking tradition, but there was very little evidence of that.

His team selection was almost an admission of inferiority. He packed it with experience, he strung five across the midfield, and he loaded up the centre of his defence to try to stifle the intricate approach play of David Silva, Carlos Tevez, Sergio Aguero and Samir Nasri.

They happily allowed City to have the ball in wide positions, with Gael Clichy and Pablo Zabaleta raiding freely down the flanks.

The problem was that from those wide positions City needed quality and invention, but too often they were just slinging in crosses which were being eaten up by the Reds’ sizeable defence.

Ferguson’s anxiety was also evident in his defensive selection, with Chris Smalling, Rio Ferdinand and Phil Jones all starting, in order to combat City’s aerial strength.

For the first 45 minutes, it worked.

City were the better team, holding possession and probing without presenting too much of a threat, and they had simply packed their team with attacking quality.

Many felt Nigel de Jong would start as extra security, but Mancini kept Yaya Toure in a deep position and hit the Reds with his twinkle-toed quartet.

Sergio Aguero’s father-in-law Diego Maradona watched from the stands, and he may have been puzzled by the lack of football on show, even if it was gripping and high-intensity.

He got to his feet for the first time when Aguero was presented with the first real scoring chance when Zabaleta retrieved Wayne Rooney’s hasty clearance and played the ball in for Lescott. His header gave Aguero a volleyed chance but he skied it, to the dismay of his legendary relative.

For much of the half City were pressing high up the pitch and United were reduced to panicky channel balls which had Rooney in a state of increasing annoyance.

But the Blues needed to cap their dominance with a goal, as Tevez, Yaya Toure and Aguero began to run the ball at the increasingly alarmed Reds.

Breakthrough

When the breakthrough came, it was fittingly Kompany who got it.

Silva’s corner swirled to the edge of the six-yard box and the big Belgian rose high above Chris Smalling to head home.

The script was written that Tevez would have a big say in any drama in this game. And he did have a role in the goal, albeit a surreptitious and unglamorous one, standing in front of keeper David de Gea to ensure that Kompany had a free jump for the goal.

That was City’s first goal in a home league derby since Geovanni scored the winner in August 2007.

United now had to show some adventure, but that meant they were leaving bigger holes for City, and Nasri almost curled a shot home as the Blues found their smooth attacking rhythm.

Mancini decided, with a quarter of the game to go, to shore things up, and he replaced the excellent Tevez with Nigel de Jong.

But that also meant Yaya was pushed up to be a virtual second striker, and he crashed a shot just wide as City looked for the counter-punch.

Now it was raw and rollicking, and when de Jong crashed into Danny Welbeck for a booking, it sparked a stand-up row between the managers, Ferguson having to be restrained from entering the City technical area.

“Fergie’s cracking up” sang the gleeful City fans, but by this point we were all cracking up as the tension ratcheted up another couple of notches.

And it was City who should have secured it as Clichy’s shot brought a great save from de Gea, and then Nasri almost waltzed through the defence only to be thwarted at the final moment.

But after five minutes of Fergie time, the whistle went and the stadium erupted.

Noel Gallagher was singing at the top of his voice, everyone was hugging each other, and a sense of destiny draped itself over the ground.

It’s not over yet, but with this spirit and sense of purpose, this team will take some stopping.
What is your verdict on the game? Have your say.

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